If you had a groundhog under your porch, what would you do?

[HappyMommy2]

If you had a family of ground hogs with burrow holes and tunnels all around the neighborhood and under your back porch, and a garden in your backyard, and three young kids, what would you do?

[HollyBearsMom]

I would let them be but I live near a state park and would be constantly relocating the wild animals if they bothered me. We regularly get foxes, skunks, raccoons, bunnies, possum, deer, feral cats, etc etc. In fact I bet folks relocate them here, lol!

[ollyoxenfree]

I would probably trap and relocate, because I wouldn't want fox and coyote (pretty common around here) prowling around my backyard. Then I would construct barriers to prevent another family from moving in (or at least try).

I might let groundhogs stay. Skunk would definitely be removed. Anything actually inside the house would go. We had mice last spring and used live-traps. Any we found were caught and released in a neighbouring park. Our neighbours had generations of racoons in their attic for many years. I cannot imagine the stench in that house. 

[ollyoxenfree]

I don't know what I'm thinking. We have a dog (husky/shepherd mutt). He goes crazy after wildlife. Nevermind the natural predators, groundhogs would probably cause no end of headaches (and probably some heartache) here. They would have to go. 

It's been a tragic spring here. We found one completed but abandoned nest near the driveway. Another nest was located in a hedge on the same driveway, only 4 feet from the ground. There were 2 nestlings in it but they disappeared. I hope they fledged and flew off, but they were awfully small the last time I saw them, so I think it's more likely a predator got them. That nest still has 2 unhatched eggs in (must get photos) but it's been abandoned too. Yesterday morning, I heard an awful "BANG" off our living room window - I think it was a bird but couldn't find a body, so I'm again hopeful it survived. Sigh. I hope those baby groundhogs do a little better. 

[MusicianDad]

We do the water down the hole. All it does is makes them relocate to a more suitable location, it takes more than one go though. Since I like spending time in the yard with the kids and I'm visually impaired, we can't be having gopher holes popping up in our yard.

[HappyMommy2]

I don't know if water would get rid of the ground hogs like it does for gophers.  They are huge.  Their holes and their tunnel are huge!

[LynnS6]

See if they come out on Feb 2nd?

Seriously, I'd trap and relocate. My suburban neighborhood isn't a great place for wildlife.

[yeahwhat]

I may have one living in my backyard under the shed.  I haven't found a hole, but it could be under the shed where I can't see it.  Yesterday it ran across my yard, through my strawberries, under the fence, and across the neighbours' yard before disappearing behind their shed.  Less than a minute later their large and young dog was outside sniffing around their shed; he must have been looking out the window too.  Unless it starts causing more problems, I'm letting it be.

I've seen a few dead groundhogs along the roads in the last few weeks, so either there's an overabundance this year, or the late start to spring has made them make some unusual choices (like trying to live in an urban backyard with a large dog right there and outdoor cats all over the place).  We've lived here 9 years and this is the first time I've seen one in the backyard.  They're usually by the river a couple of blocks away, but there was a lot of late snow and spring rain, so maybe the usual habitat was flooded.

[hibana]

Groundhogs under the house can damage your foundation! A large dog is the only way to make sure they depart and are not replaced by something else that decides to move into the empty burrow.

We have a massive groundhog problem. Trapping & re-homing does not work in our case. More of the buggers move in from the surrounding fields. Hunting them is time-consuming and they breed like crazy anyway. A dog is not an option.

You could try getting a guy to pee in all the holes. (good grief that sounded wrong) Man urine is supposed to drive away numerous kinds of critters.

[HappyMommy2]

We have a large dog already!  They don't care.

Is this why our basement floods???

[alicia622]

I voted trap and relocate as well as live and let live.  I am not really sure which I would do- I will say that we allowed squirrels to live in our eaves for years because the only time we ever thought about fixing the hole they made was when we noticed the baby squirrels.  :D Last year we had out house resided and the eaves were fixed as part of the project so it's not an issue any more.  I would probably let the groundhogs stay a while and eventually move them.

[SleeplessMommy]

"Groundhogs under the house can damage your foundation! "

Yes. You need to trap it, though around here we shoot them after trapping. I know this is an upsetting idea for many, but consider that the ecosystem originally included predators to control groundhog populations - wolves, bears and foxes. The wolves and bears are missing in most areas, foxes in very small numbers... so you get an excess of groundhogs. Our yard has had up to 4 distinct groundhog communities, before we started to control them. It is not something we are happy about, but we do it.

After the eviction, you need to concrete the hole or put up a wire fence to keep more of them out.

[yeahwhat]

A ground hog is going to dig down 6+ feet to go under my foundation?

[journeymom]

Don't all us gals have groundhogs under our porches??

I voted 'live and let live', definitely.

[SleeplessMommy]

It only needs to dig 1-3 feet to make an entry point for water, and it can dig down 5' pretty easily.

Here is a link:

http://www.cravenwildlifecontrol.com/wildlifefacts.html

[yeahwhat]

It seems to be a moot question for me at this point.  I haven't seen it around in almost 2 weeks now.  I'm guessing that now that all the extra water by the river has subsided, it has gone back down there where there is more space, and less people and dogs.

Looking at the pictures from the above link though, my foundation looks absolutely nothing like that one, it goes down over 6' under ground and is poured concrete with a french drain near the bottom to stop water from pooling around the foundation and seeping into the basement.  Regardless, it does appear that they can do damage to some structures, and who wants to step in a hole and hurt their ankle while mowing the lawn?

[Caneel]

Originally Posted by SleeplessMommy 

"Groundhogs under the house can damage your foundation! "

Yes. You need to trap it, though around here we shoot them after trapping. I know this is an upsetting idea for many, but consider that the ecosystem originally included predators to control groundhog populations - wolves, bears and foxes. The wolves and bears are missing in most areas, foxes in very small numbers... so you get an excess of groundhogs. Our yard has had up to 4 distinct groundhog communities, before we started to control them. It is not something we are happy about, but we do it.

After the eviction, you need to concrete the hole or put up a wire fence to keep more of them out.

I voted other - I grew up in the country and yeah, ground hogs that get too close to house were shot as were the ones living in livestock fields.  Cows and horses were far too valuable to lose because they broke a leg stepping in a ground hog hole.  No one would have trapped and relocated them, it would have been a full-time job. 

Something to consider, in the Northeast, ground hogs with rabies are not unheard of.  My DH had to shot one in our front yard that had all signs of being rabid. 

[yeahwhat]

I'm in a silly mood this morning and am now amusing myself thinking about just how fast the police would arrive if I were to attempt to shoot a groundhog in my yard.  Not a good plan in an urban neighbourhood.  The ensuing fine and/or jail time is less amusing to consider.

[SleeplessMommy]

Just to clarify, the shooting was done by air rifle not handgun.

[gmvh]

We, too, have a groundhog underneath our back porch and there is no doubt it is doing damage to at least the porch foundation.  We have not decided how to proceed nor have we gotten around to it (new-to-us house).

We can go weeks in between sightings so even if you're not seeing it, it may well still be there.

As far as shooting them goes, if you have an older copy of Joy of Cooking, there are woodchuck/groundhog recipes in there.